This dad creatively changed the game of staying in touch with his family on his year-long deployment.

David Holmes, 33, a Sergeant First Class with the Army National Guard, headed to Texas and Oklahoma for a few months of training. From there, he was deployed to Iraq. Then, he had to attend a debriefing in Texas.

His son, Waylon, wanted to give his dad a piece of home to keep the military man from feeling lonely, so the little boy packaged his favorite stuffed dinosaur, Dino.

“It made me feel real close to home because Waylon has had the dinosaur, Dino, ever since he was born, and he never sleeps without it,” said David. “So for him to send it was a really big deal.”

David got creative with his Dino adventure. He started documenting the stuffed animal at the gym, on flights, and even in group photos of him with the other soldiers. Everywhere dad went, Dino went too. Waylon couldn’t get enough of the videos and pictures of two of his favorites traveling the world together.

“I would try to keep Dino in mind to send to him so he would be kept in the loop of what was going on,” explained David.

David joined the military when he was 19 years old. This was his first deployment since getting married or having kids. Dino served as a reminder of the love that waited for him when he got home.

Finally, after 359 days apart, Waylon, his dad and Dino were reunited in Dayton, Ohio.

“I had Dino in my bag and I gave it to him when I got in the truck,” said David. “It was a pretty neat experience.”

Watch this deployed dad take his son's dinosaur on one amazing adventure.

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